Congratulations to all those who have passed the first hurdle. I can't believe it was only four years ago my DS went to CH. My DD passed the first exam only to fall at the residential. One piece of advice I can give is whatever the outcome from the residential assessment, take it as an experience in life. I was torn into pieces when my daughter could not get in as we knew she was more intelligent than her brother. She got into another equally good if not better private girls school and is flourishing . I knew I had come full circle when she came home 2 weeks ago and said' 'Mum I don't know what I would have done if I had not come to this school''. Enjoy the experience.

juicymum wrote:My DD passed the first exam only to fall at the residential. One piece of advice I can give is whatever the outcome from the residential assessment, take it as an experience in life. I was torn into pieces when my daughter could not get in as we knew she was more intelligent than her brother.

I remember the heartache you went through last year Juicymum, It's great to hear you DD is really happy where she is. I'm dreading my DD "falling" at the last hurdle.

Congratulations to all who got through the first stage (even though another anxious wait now lies ahead!). But for those who didn't make it, I hope that Juicymum's experience is reassuring.

I recently bumped into an ex-colleague of mine whose DD was offered a place at CH a few years back - only for them to have to turn it down when the assessed fees were hugely more than they'd been expecting. The family were devastated, as their DD's only alternative was their local comp, widely regarded as the worst school in West Sussex. Four years down the line, and she's doing brilliantly there! She's predicted to get straight As at GCSE next year, and has already decided to stay on into the sixth form, which because only a very low percentage of the pupils take A levels can offer small class sizes and individual support. And the canny lass has her sights set on applying to Oxbridge, where she hopes that her record of achieving good results at a 'poor' school could be to her advantage!

So to anyone feeling disappointed at not getting into CH, I hope you'll be able to move on and make the most of your opportunities elsewhere. With a positive attitude and parental support, a bright child should be able to succeed wherever they go to school!

as they say everything happens for a reason the 3 other people I know who's dec went for the exam never got they either it would just be helpful if they have feedback so you can work on it for the next exams etc good luck to everyone sitting in jan , didn't make any plans for new year as thought we'd be huddled over a exam paper oh well time for a well deserved holiday me thinks !!

Dropped DD off this morning for the residentials. The dining hall was heaving, it seemed like there were many more parents than when my DS went 3 years ago. During the headmasters speech he said that 300 children were back. It was 245 for my DS, but I think the number of places is the same, so 112 by my reckoning. Ouch! Here's to keeping everything crossed for Feb 14th!

pinkhebe wrote:Am I going mad?! I can't find the bursery table on the website anymore

You're right Pinkhebe, it's gone from the site! Used to be under "prospective parents, fees, then bursary table. Now there's just some blurb! I hope they are intending to put something back up, preferably the old style ready reckoner rather than the bursary table that superseded it, which meant not a lot to most people.

There are quite a few changes on the websit I notice, including the parents portal. Just going to have a read through and see if there are any other major changes.

Hmmmm, weird, it is still there, but you have to go via the sitemap, then it's under prospective parents, bursaries, bursary table. Howeve, the sibling policy has disappeared from the sitemap, which had become the only place you could find that too!

I may have got this wrong, but aren't you both (Pinkhebe and Eowyn) waiting to hear whether your children are offered a place for entry this year? So you've applied, paid the registration fee, and your children have gone through two stages of assessment... all without CH having provided you with sufficient information to calculate whether you'll actually be able to afford a place if it's offered?